Happy Birthday Little Princess!

I can't believe Mikayla has only been in my life three years! It has been so amazing watching her grow up. At 3 she has so much personality and keeps her daddy and I on our toes.

I knew that we would want to celebrate her day somehow but I didn't even know where we would be living when her birthday came around. I was told we would move into our new house 3 days before her birthday so I did not think a party was possible. When our move in date got pushed back and we found out we would still be in the hotel Ken and I quickly planned a party for her so that she could enjoy the day with friends. We have been very lucky to meet some amazing families here already. The kids have also been lucky because almost everyone we have met here has kids so they already have met many playmates.

Mikayla went to bed on Friday night so excited because we told her that Saturday was her birthday and that her friends were coming over to celebrate with her. She woke up asking if it was her Birthday Party yet. =-) Her friends arrived and since Daddy had found a local Pizza Hut (yes, an actual Pizza Hut) everyone enjoyed a pizza lunch. We have tried pizza at a few places the last few trips to Dalian and although some were good they were not quite what we were used to so it was awesome to find out that Pizza Hut tasted the same. After lunch we took all the kids down to our playground and they got to run and jump and scream off some energy before returning to the room for cake and gifts. I was thrilled when we opened the cakes because they were just about perfect. I was even more thrilled when we tasted the cake and it was actually yummy. The cakes ended up being yellow cake with whipped cream frosting. They were not as sweet as cakes back home but they were still very tasty. Mikayla made me laugh because as soon as Ken lit the candles we all started to sing Happy Birthday to her. We had only sang the first line and she blew out the candles! She has been waiting since the last birthday party she went to for it to be her turn to blow out candles so she just went for it. After everyone went home she got to skip nap and watch "Princess and the Frog" twice while playing with all of her new toys. I dozed off while she watched the movie and played but was woken up several times to help her change a Barbie or bear outfit, put on her new jewelry, put stickers on a toy elephant, or help her put marker caps back on. I think she was eager to play with all the toys by herself before Brother woke up and she had to share!

Getting cheesy with her cake:

Yummy!

All in all it was a great day for us all. Mikayla enjoyed herself and loved her party and being the Birthday Girl. Thank you to everyone who came out to help us celebrate.

The birthday girl posing with her gifts:

The Cakes: